What to Do With Criminals: Looking Back at Troubled Past Can Trouble Employer’s Present

by Christopher Gatewood
Threshold Counsel, PC - Richmond

Criminal background checks have become routine for many employers, and with good reason. But in recent years, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has pursued several companies for their use of such screening measures in their hiring process.

The EEOC has approached the matter as one of disparate impact under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and has directed that employers should not use criminal records as a basis for automatic rejection of an applicant. The idea seems to be that warehouse workers and child care providers can and should be viewed differently, and perhaps also that all crimes are not created equally.